The objective of the proposed project is to investigate relationships between elaborative learning processes and learning efficiency. Elaboration refers to the augmentation of disparate items of information so as to synthesize them. Four types of effects pertaining to the relationship between elaboration and learning efficiency are distinguished: verbal, pictorial, developmental, and population effects. Experimental studies are proposed for examining each type of effect; major emphasis is placed on analyses of pictorial learning conditions presumed to elicit elaboration and on investigations of developmental trends. The developmental studies principally focus on changes in elaborative learning processes during adolescence. The methods used include the tasks of paired-associate learning, free-recall learning, and comprehension of text applied in paradigms appropriate for the study of initial acquisition, retention and transfer. The validity of generalizations arising from the research for a variety of populations will be appraised by sampling subjects from different backgrounds in terms of ethnicity and socioeconomic status.